Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of surgery and of treatment of medical condition of a mammals subject.
More specifically, the present invention provides an implantable device to treat obesity and a method making use of the same.
Description of the Related Art
Numerous devices, products and methods of various kinds (for example surgical, physical, medicinal) are already known in relation to the treatment of obesity of mammals, making use of different ways to try to achieve a beneficial effect in relation to said medical condition.
Among these known treatment methods, quite a large number make use of implanted or injected devices to achieve the purpose of helping the subject to lose weight.
A first type aims to reduce the inside volume of the stomach, either by compressing or segmenting said organ with a device extending around it, such as a belt or a ring or by locating and possible deploying within the stomach cavity a voluminous or deforming implant in order to reduce the interior empty space and/or to deform the gastric wall (see US 2013/289466 and WO 2011/130721 for example).
An other type aims to limit the ingestion and/or circulation of nutrients by providing a passive or active restriction means inhibiting or slowing down the filling and/or emptying of the stomach (see for example US 2012/116182, US 2003/158564, US 2014/0081419, US 2013/281911).
Now, devices of these two types are an obstacle to the free circulation of ingested food through the gastrointestinal path and adversely affect the smooth functioning of the stomach. They may also create a feeling of discomfort for the implanted subject, and generally request extensive surgery.
A third type of implants, of a passive type, aims to stiffen and/or stretch the stomacal wall by injecting stiffening material or inserting hollow bodies into it (see for example US 2012/022322, US 2014/081419), possibly incorporating a stretching means (US 2009/093836).
Here also extensive surgery is generally needed and no active control is possible.
A fourth type of known devices concerns swallowable devices, such as a device embedded in a capsule, which deploy and/or become active when reaching the stomach. Said devices may stimulate mechanic-receptors by exerting a pressure or vibration action on an organ from within said organ (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 8,021,384).
These latter devices, in addition to being an obstacle to free circulation, cannot be positioned accurately and may be located at the wrong place in terms of obesity treatment efficiency.
Furthermore, due to the deformable nature of the gatrointestinal tract and due to the absence of physical link with its wall, the action points or areas of these devices may change over time, leading to non foreseeable effects.